SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out due to knee soreness and two-time All-Star Khris Middleton struggled to make shots, but the Sacramento Kings couldn’t capitalize in a narrow loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Jrue Holiday had 33 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds to lead the Bucks to a 129-128 victory over the Kings on Saturday night at Golden 1 Center. The Kings rallied from a 13-point deficit over the final 6:48, but their comeback came up short.
Brook Lopez scored a season-high 26 points for the Bucks (32-17), who won their third in a row after beating the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday and the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday. Lopez made 11 of 13 from the field. Bobby Portis had 18 points and Middleton added 16 despite making just 4 of 14 field-goal attempts.
Recent trade acquisition Terence Davis came off the bench to score a season-high 27 points for the Kings (22-27), who have lost three in a row following a five-game winning streak. Davis made 10 of 14 from the field and 7 of 10 from 3-point range, establishing a career high for 3-point goals in a game.
The Bucks shot 53.8% from the field, made 11 of 31 from 3-point range and converted 18 of 20 free-throw attempts. They outrebounded the Kings 47-40 and had a 60-48 advantage on points in the paint.
“We should get this by now,” Kings coach Luke Walton said. “In this league, it takes as close to 48 minutes of hard competing, high intensity to win games. We went on a nice winning streak and these last three games, we’re only finding that for parts of the game. Some teams can do that. We’re not one of those teams. We have to compete for as close to 48 minutes as possible and tonight we didn’t get that job done.”
De’Aaron Fox had 27 points and six assists for Sacramento. Buddy Hield scored 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting with five 3-pointers. Rookie Tyrese Haliburton added 12 points, 11 assists and six rebounds.
The teams traded leads a number of times during a closely contest first half. Davis provided a spark for Sacramento off the bench to prevent the Bucks from building on an early lead. The Bucks led 31-28 at the end of the first period. The Kings went up 45-42 on a 3-pointer by Haliburton midway through the second quarter, but the Bucks carried a 61-57 advantage into the halftime break.
Middleton didn’t get his first bucket until the second half after going 0 of 8 to start the game. Middleton’s three-point play helped the Bucks run out to a 79-70 lead in the third quarter, but Fox, Harrison Barnes and Hield all hit 3-pointers in a span of 1:49 as the Kings staged an 11-2 run to tie the game.
Milwaukee led 99-91 at the end of the third and went up 113-103 on a basket by Middleton early in the fourth. The Kings trailed by 13 with less than six minutes remaining before Davis made a 3-pointer, Fox converted a three-point play and Hield connected from the top of the arc to cut the deficit to four with 4:09 to play.
The Kings got within three on a putback dunk by Hield and tied the game on a corner 3-pointer by Davis with 2:06 remaining, but Holiday answered with a three-point play and a driving layup to help the Bucks hold on for the win.
UP NEXT
The Kings will fly to Minneapolis to play the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday at Target Center. This is the first of three meetings between the Kings and Timberwolves, who will play a back-to-back set in Sacramento April 20-21.
The Timberwolves (12-38) beat the New York Knicks 102-101 on Wednesday before suffering a 120-108 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday and a 122-113 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.
Karl-Anthony Towns is averaging 24.1 points, 10.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists for Minnesota. Malik Beasley averages 19.6 points per game. Rookie Anthony Edwards is averaging 17.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists, but he is shooting just 39.4% from the field and 31.1% from 3-point range.
